


I Assure You, We're Open

by wholeorc



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual Steve Harrington, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, M/M, MLM WLW solidarity, Period-Typical Homophobia (mentioned), Post-Season/Series 03, Recreational Drug Use, Underage Drinking, Wingman Robin, Wingman Steve, also steve gets a bf, excessive mentions of obscure movies, for the last time its not drugs DAD its just marijuana, its the 80s thats like prime goth gf time, mostly a friendship fic but also, robin gets a goth gf, set while they're working together at the family video
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-09 21:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19484413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholeorc/pseuds/wholeorc
Summary: Yeah. Steve was a great friend. Maybe even her best friend.Terrible co-worker, though.Title taken fromClerksRobin and Steve's adventures working at Family Video





	1. Pink Flamingos

For once, Robin was happy to be bored at her job.

Espionage and monster fighting was exciting and all, but it was also… traumatic. That being said, she did have a great support group. 

Primarily it was Steve Harrington. Turns out, he’s a great friend. Robin had never really had a sleepover before Steve suggested it- she’d never been invited to one. Steve’s house was massive and he had a pool with a light inside it so they could swim at night. His parents were almost never home so they could talk freely about monsters and Russian spies and, on occasion, gay stuff.

That’s what they called it anyway.

Robin had always felt like her sexuality was never okay to talk about before, but between all the other crazy shit they’d dealt with that summer, it didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore. Especially since Steve was shockingly accepting of her for a stupid rich kid. He was more than happy to talk to her about girls and dating and give her some of the shittiest advice she’d ever heard. She’d just smile and roll her eyes. 

Yeah. Steve was a great friend. Maybe even her best friend. 

Terrible co-worker, though.

He'd fall asleep behind the counter a lot. Not to mention how much of the store's candy stock he stole to snack on throughout the day. He'd share, though, so it wasn't too bad. 

He also attracted his little gaggle of children to the store. El and Will had moved away, but the others would come in regularly and loiter. If they weren't loitering they'd be trying to rent R-rated horror movies. Robin tried to discourage it at first, but she gave up pretty quickly. These kids had seen way scarier shit than anything in a movie. They could handle it. Except Erica, she would NOT let her rent _Halloween_ no matter how many times she asked. 

On a particularly slow day, Robin had her feet kicked up on the counter while she read a novel. Steve was napping on the floor behind the counter and she let him, because she didn't feel like talking. She was so engrossed in her reading, she didn't hear the bell ring when a customer came through the door. 

"Steven King. Nice." Robin jumped a bit at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, quickly dog-earing her page and whipping her feet off the counter. 

The voice was low and warm, had a thick west coast accent, and belonged to a girl Robin didn't recognize. She had a huge void of jet black hair ratted and teased to at least a foot tall above her head. Her clothes were black and baggy and she wore no makeup. Robin tried to suppress her immediate crush. 

"Yeah? I like him, he's, uh. Pretty weird."

The girl nodded. "Weird indeed. Which one is that?" 

"Carrie." 

The girl smiled approvingly and Robin felt her stomach flutter. 

"Do you guys have any copies of Pink Flamingos?" 

Robin furrowed her brows. "The John Waters flick?"

"That's the one." 

"Yeah, lemme show you." Robin hopped over the counter and led her to the section it was in, picking it out for her. "Anything else?" 

The girl gave Robin an infuriatingly unreadable look. 

"I think so. Might get some candy."

"Sounds good." Robin hurried back to her station, climbing back over the counter and nearly kicking Steve in the head in the process. When she looked up she saw the girl suppressing a smirk, browsing the candy. She peeped over the counter. 

"Is that guy dead?"

"What? No, he's just asleep. We've been here all day and you're our first customer."

The girl eyed Steve a bit longer before picking out her candy and setting it on the counter with the VHS of Pink Flamingos. "Might have to come in more often, then. Keep you company." She was leaning onto the counter, dark brown eyes locking with Robin’s and a smug look on her face.

Robin ducked her head down to hide her blush as she scanned the items. "That'll be $7.84" 

"Alright," her eyes flicked down to read her name tag. "Robin." She took out her wallet, black and ratty like her clothes, and fished out a wad of ones to hand to her. Their fingers touched in the exchange and sent Robin's heart racing. Was this girl really flirting with her? No, she had to be imagining it. 

She counted out her change in a hurry and have it back, stuffing the tape and candy into a plastic bag. "Have it back by Friday before midnight, uh," 

"Monica. And I'll see you before then." Monica delicately took her bag and gave Robin a little wave as she walked out. The bell on the door jangled unceremoniously. 

Steve popped up as soon as the coast was clear. "Holy shit, she was into you."

Robin flinched, swatting Steve in surprise. "What the fuck, Harrington? You scared the shit out of me!"

Steve continued as if she hadn't just scolded him. "Don't tell me that wasn't obvious! She was totally hitting on you!" 

Robin blinked. "Were you awake that whole time?" 

"Maybe."

"Fuckin' eavesdropper!" She grabbed her book and whacked him with it. 

"Hey, hey! Sorry for caring about a customer!" 

"If you cared, you would've got up and helped me! I was falling apart!" 

"She was that cute?"

"You didn't see her?"

"No, I was pretending to sleep! Generally, people sleep with their eyes closed." 

Robin groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "Ugh, shut up." 

Steve got up, leaning on Robin affectionately and poking her cheek. "C'mon. _Monica_ will be back before the week is over asking for more weird movies and _you_ are going to be her video rental knight in shining armor because you know I don't know where anything is in here."

"You know where the porno is."

Steve spluttered indignantly. "Hey! I was just curious!" 

"Sure you were." 

\---

Robin stayed home sick with a sore throat on Wednesday, so Steve was running the store on his own. Keith was a control freak so he never scheduled his own shifts if either of them were working. The nice thing about that was Steve and Robin had a lot of time to hang out and rarely had to deal with Keith. The less nice thing was that Robin basically ran the store while they were there, so Steve was kind of helpless today. 

He knew where the popular stuff was, and how to order movies if someone asked about one they didn’t have, but finding and putting away obscure stuff was really throwing him for a loop. About midway through his shift he felt like he was getting the hang of it, and he was actually pretty proud of himself. He had just picked up a magazine to flip through during a bit of a lull when he heard the bell ring.

In walked a short-ish girl with hair that was somehow even taller than his, decked out in all black. She walked with a bit of a swagger, approaching the desk and smacking down her tape. Pink Flamingos.

“Robin not working today?” If the tape wasn’t a giveaway, her voice certainly was. This was Monica. 

Steve was a bit mesmerized by her strange appearance, taking a little too long to respond. “Uh, no, she’s home sick.” He finally managed, wrenching his eyes from of her rats’ nest of hair to make eye contact. 

She looked him over, loudly smacking gum in her mouth as she did. “You guys working on Friday?” 

“Should be.” 

“Alright.” She turned on her (platform) heel and walked right back out, leaving Steve alone in the store again. 

At the end of his shift, Steve locked up and headed straight for Robin’s. She told him she didn’t need anyone to take care of her, but he’d insisted. He pulled up to her house, grabbing the small care package he’d thrown together from the passenger’s seat and jogging up to her door. He knocked a few times before he got an answer, a miserable-looking Robin cracking the door open. She was in a too-big t-shirt and too-long pajama pants that dragged on the floor, and was bundled in several blankets.

“Hey, dingus.” Her voice was painfully rough and she looked absolutely exhausted. 

“Hey. Brought you some stuff.” Steve held up his little shoebox of goodies, which Robin looked at incredulously. She looked back up at him, the look only intensifying. “What, nobody ever made you a care package before?”

“No.”

“It’s just, like, tea, cough drops, some painkillers, some snacks…” Steve shrugged. 

Robin’s face softened and she looked almost touched, but mostly tired, wordlessly stepping back and opening the door so Steve could step inside. He followed her as she waddled over to her couch and fell back into the position she had presumably been in all day, curling up on her side. Steve set the little care package on the coffee table, watching Robin sit up and open it. She popped a cough drop into her mouth, digging through the box. “Instant mashed potatoes?” 

“Yeah, I kind of ran out of ideas. Want me to make them for you?”

Robin hesitated a moment before getting up, handing over the box and letting him lead her to the kitchen. She sat in her blanket cocoon at the kitchen table, watching him find a saucepan and dig around the spice cabinet.  
“Monica came in today,” Steve said casually, muffled a bit by the cabinet. After a beat of silence, he continued, “She asked about you.” 

“She did?” 

“Yep. She’s _definitely_ into you.” 

Robin tightened her blankets around her, coughing a few times. "Want me to make some tea, too?" Steve offered, grabbing a tea bag from the shoebox as soon as she nodded. "I got chamomile. Nancy said it's supposed to be good for sore throats." He rooted through the pots and pans, eventually finding the tea kettle.

After a dinner of instant mashed potatoes and chamomile tea, Steve ended up crashing at Robin’s. They were off on Thursday, so Steve stuck around to nurse Robin back to health so she could hopefully make it to work on Friday. Robin found she didn’t mind it as much as she thought she would. Steve was very nurturing in a clumsy sort of way, and Robin suddenly understood why all those kids latched onto him. 

Nancy actually ended up bringing the kids by that day to check in. It was pretty chaotic, but a nice sort of chaos. By the end of the visit, Robin had more cough drops and comic books (the kids had each brought some to give her) than she could ever get through. 

\---

On Friday, Robin was feeling _just_ well enough to come in to work. She kept a thermos of hot tea and a bag of cough drops on standby and tried not to breathe on customers, but she was doing alright. In his concern, Steve was actually pulling his weight today, helping more customers than she’d ever seen before. 

When Monica came in, though, Steve let Robin help her. 

She grinned when she spotted Robin, making a beeline for the counter. 

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Don’t get too close, though, I’m still a little sick.”

Monica frowned. “Well, I hope you feel better soon.” She looked over at Steve, pointing a finger at him. “No napping today, she needs all the help she can get.” Steve saluted her playfully and she smiled, returning her focus to Robin. “Okay. This one’s harder to find. Do you have The Vampire Lovers?”

Robin had a sudden coughing fit, burying her face in the crook of her elbow and nearly doubling over. “So you do?” Monica asked with a smirk, watching Robin get red in the face and Steve look completely bewildered. Robin took a swig of her tea, trying to calm her throat. 

“Uh, yeah,” she gasped wiping her mouth. “Lemme, lemme-” She actually used the counter door instead of hopping over, too tired to exert the effort, and led Monica to the horror section. 

“So, do you like Hammer films?” Monica asked idly as Robin flipped through the “V” section. 

“I guess. Haven’t seen this one, though, just,” -Her breath caught in her throat a bit when she found the right tape- “Heard of it.”

Monica reached over her shoulder to take it off the shelf, her arm nearly brushing Robin’s cheek as she retrieved it. “It’s worth the watch. Ingrid Pitt is great.” She started to walk Robin back up front. “We should watch it together some time.”

Robin nodded wordlessly, far too flustered to speak. She went back behind the counter, Steve’s eyes following her with obvious curiosity, and checked Monica out. 

“Have it back Tuesday by midnight.” She finally croaked out. Monica signed her receipt, scribbling her number at the bottom, and left with a wink. Robin felt like she was going to pass out. 

Steve practically dragged her back to the break room as soon as the store was empty, sitting her down. “What the hell was that?” He was so confused he sounded hysterical. 

“She rented a lesbian vampire movie and asked me to watch it with her.”

That shut Steve up for a long moment. Not long enough,though. “Holy SHIT! What did I say!” 

“She gave me her number, too.” Robin held up the receipt copy. 

Steve grinned, holding up his hand for a high-five which Robin reluctantly granted him. “Look at you! I thought _I_ was the ladykiller, guess I was wrong!” Robin giggled hoarsely and gave Steve’s shoulder a weak little punch.

“Shut up, dingus.”

  



	2. Raiders of the Lost Ark

“So I went over to Monica’s,”

“Yeah?”

“The movie was pretty good.”

“And?” Steve leaned in so he was more visible through the smoke, wiggling his eyebrows. Robin giggled and bit her lip, a little shy to talk about it, but she was so giddy she couldn’t resist.

“Her nipples are pierced.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “You got to second? Robin!”

Robin elbowed Steve, still giggling. “Shut up, dingus, I know for a fact you’ve moved faster than that.”

“I know _I’m_ a slut,” Steve held a hand up in surrender, “But I didn’t think you were that kind of girl.”

“I’m not! Monica is just very… free-spirited.”

Steve snorted and they both started to laugh, Steve smacking the dashboard of Robin’s car as he tried to get ahold of himself. “We should probably open the store.” He giggled, wiping a tear from his eye. 

“Probably.” 

Maybe hotboxing in the parking lot wasn’t the best way to start your day, but hey, they didn’t do it that often. And when they did do it, it was on days they knew they wouldn’t have a lot of customers, like today. People didn’t tend to rent movies on Mondays.

They opened up the shop, rewinding and putting up tapes from the drop-off box, and settled in for a lazy day. Most people who came by didn’t even bother coming inside, just stopping by before work or on their lunch break and tossing their tapes in the drop-off box before hurrying off again.

Robin had decided to read one of the comic books the kids gave her. It was a Wonder Woman comic, so it was probably from Max. Steve boredly read snippets over her shoulder. 

"Who do you think would win in a fight between Storm and Wonder Woman?" He mused, munching on some popcorn he'd made in the employee microwave. 

Robin furrowed her brows, looking over at him incredulously. "They wouldn't fight."

"Whaddaya mean they wouldn't fight?"

"I mean they wouldn't fight. They believe in the same stuff, they'd be friends."

Steve groaned dramatically. "That's not what I asked. I asked who would win in a fight." 

"Why would they be fighting?"

"Does it matter?" 

"Does it matter who would win?" Robin rolled her eyes, shutting the comic and grabbing some popcorn from the bag. Steve made a face, but allowed it.

They'd been working for about two hours and nobody had come in. Which was honestly probably good because they were definitely still high. "This blows. I hate working slow days."

"You hate working any days, dingus." Robin took another handful of popcorn, crunching down on it loudly. "But if you wanna move out, you gotta make a living."

Steve huffed, shielding his popcorn from any more theft. "Yeah, yeah." 

A jingle caused them both to snap to attention. First customer of the day. 

In walked a big, brawny dude that neither of them recognized. He had to be well over 6 foot tall, clearly an athlete, and quite attractive with long, wavy hair that went down past his shoulders. Generally pretty intimidating. He surveyed the store briefly before approaching the counter.

"Do you guys have Back to the Future yet?" His voice was surprisingly gentle for such a big guy, and he shared the vague west coast accent that Monica had. 

Steve seemed to have suddenly become nonverbal, just staring up at the dude in… awe? So he turned to Robin, looking like the biggest lost puppy she'd ever seen. 

"Sorry, sir, that won't be out on tape for at least another month." She almost felt guilty when she saw how disappointed he looked. "Is there anything else you might like to rent instead?" 

He looked over to the rows of shelves in the store, looking quite overwhelmed. Robin felt a strong urge to help him, elbowing Steve who was still staring at the customer. "Steve can help you! He loves Back to the Future, don't you, Stevie?"

Steve jolted, elbowing Robin back before the guy looked over at him hopefully. "Ye- Yeah, totally, I can help you find something good!" 

Robin narrowed her eyes as she watched Steve hop gracefully over the counter. It seemed almost like he was showing off. 

Steve fussed with his hair a bit when the guy was distracted by the sea of movies in the store, holding out a hand when he turned back to face him. He got a _very_ firm handshake, which made his stomach flip, but only a little bit. "Name's Steve Harrington."

"I'm Richard, but most people call me Richie." 

Steve felt his face warming up for some reason when Richie looked at him, so he quickly cleared his throat and broke the handshake, leading him to the popular movies section. 

"Whatcha looking for, Richie?" 

"Well, not Back to the Future, I guess." He looked over the shelves curiously. "Maybe something like it then. An adventure movie."

Steve put his hands on his hips, thinking hard about something Richie might enjoy. He really wanted to pick something good. 

Oh! Perfect. 

"Ever seen Indiana Jones?" 

"Nah, heard of it. It's good?"

"Yeah! There's two of 'em now, lemme see…" he searched the "I" section, quickly finding two titles. "Temple of Doom and Raiders of the Lost Ark. They've got the guy who plays Han Solo in them!" Harrison Ford. He knew he was Harrison Ford. But Richie seemed really cool, just like Harrison Ford, and Steve didn't want to look like a nerd. Or reveal he was a little too interested in both of them. 

"The Star Wars dude? Sick, I love Star Wars."

"Me too! I love the little teddy bear guys."

"...The Ewoks?"

"Yeah, sure." 

Richie smiled and shook his head and Steve felt his face heat up again, his eyes watching his long hair wave back and forth with his head. Huh. Richie had his ears pierced. 

"Okay, you sold me on Indiana Jones. Which one should I get?" 

"Raiders of the Lost Ark is the first one." Steve handed over the tape, and the two of them turned to go check out. 

Robin scrambled to look like she hadn't just been watching them the entire time, snatching up her comic and nearly taking out a display. Steve glared at her as he climbed back over the counter. She was ignoring him, but he knew she could tell he was glaring. 

Richie picked out some popcorn and chocolates to go with his movie, looking quite content. 

"Was Steve helpful today?" Robin asked, watching as Steve checked Richie out.

"Yeah! I'm finally gonna see Indiana Jones!" Richie was very smiley, and Steve looked pretty pleased with himself too. 

"Happy to assist you, Richie. That'll be $10.34"

Richie made sure to count out exact change, taking his bag. "Have it back Friday before midnight."

"Thanks, Steve. I'll tell you what I think of it." Richie waved with a smile and headed out the door, leaving Steve looking dreamily after him. 

Robin slowly leaned into his line of vision. "Wow. I've never seen you be so helpful to a customer before." 

Steve gave Robin a dirty look, taking his nearly-empty popcorn bag from her hand. Oh, great. She was watching them and eating popcorn. "And I never knew how observant you are! You were looking at him pretty intensely." 

Steve turned to look at Robin properly, feeling rather offended. "What are you implying?" 

"All I'm saying is, Richie was pretty handsome."

Steve spluttered, huffing and crossing his arms. "What? You're gay!" 

"Yeah, but I'm not blind, dingus." 

"Well," Steve searched for words, gesturing vaguely. "...neither am I." He sighed, giving in. Robin's smug smile bored into him and she started to poke his shoulder. 

"You thought he was cuuuuute-"

"I did not! I like girls! Girls are cute!"

"Okay." Robin held up her hands. Clearly this was a sore subject. 

Which was why it made pushing Steve's buttons even more fun. 

"You like Richard. You like Di-" Steve swatted her shoulder before she could finish, sending her into a fit of giggles. When he buried his head in his hands, leaning heavily on the counter, her giggles stopped abruptly. 

She placed a cautious hand on his back, patting him gently. "Hey, Steve, I didn't mean-"

"He _was_ handsome." Steve's voice was barely audible. "He was big and handsome and nice and he smelled good and-" Steve scrubbed his eyes, leaning back in his seat and running his hands through his hair. "Robin, how did you know you liked girls?" 

Robin was shocked, looking at Steve for a long time. She finally spoke when he started to look even more self-conscious, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"When I noticed stuff like what you said." She said softly, rubbing his back when he covered his face again. "It took me a long time to admit it to myself, though." She sighed, noticing some kids through the window out of the corner of her eye. Great, what an ideal time for Steve's herd of children to ditch class. "Let's talk about this later. It'll be ok, Steve."

Steve glanced up, following Robin's sightline to where the kids were and nodded. "Stay over tonight?" 

"Sure thing."

\---

The drive to Steve's house after work was quiet. Robin didn't break the silence. Steve looked like he was going to be sick the whole way. 

They pulled into the driveway, (parents not home, as usual) and got out, Steve unlocking the door to let them in. His hands were jittery, fraught with nerves. Robin held his hand to steady it and he let out a long sigh. 

"Want to listen to some music or something?" Robin suggested, hoping it might ease Steve's mind a little. Steve shrugged, still holding Robin's hand and leading them up to his room. He seemed to relax minutely once they were there. Like he felt safer. 

Robin let go of his hand, turning on his radio on low volume to fill some of the silence. 

"I guess I like Richie." He finally spoke, collapsing onto his bed. Robin sat down beside him, kicking off her shoes and sitting criss-cross. 

"That's okay, Steve." She muttered, watching as he continued to fidget with his hands. 

"Is it?" He propped his head up on his hand, looking up at her. "He's huge. He'd probably beat the shit out of me if he found out." He let his head fall back to the mattress again, staring at his ceiling. "I get beat up enough already." 

Robin sighed and unfolded her legs, lying beside Steve. She rested her hands on her stomach and stared at the ceiling with him. "I dunno. He seemed sweet." She turned her head to look at him. "How do you know he didn't think you were cute, too?" 

"I don't. But I can't exactly ask, can I?" 

"Guess not." Robin turned her head back to looking up at the ceiling. 

They laid there for a while, the radio quietly playing Tears for Fears. 

"You know what really made me realize I liked girls?"

Steve was quiet for a moment before turning his head with curiosity to find Robin already facing him. "What?"

"Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Steve smiled a little. "Susan Sarandon awoke something in ya?"

"Nope."

"No?"

"I thought Magenta was so hot."

"Magenta?" Steve wrinkled his nose, laughing. "You do have a type."

Robin grinned, glad to finally get a smile out of Steve. "What can I say? I like big hair and an attitude. You'd be the perfect woman for me if you were one, dingus."

"Aw, you mean it?" 

"Hey, don't get a big head."

Steve laughed again, sitting up and cracking his neck. "I think for me it was…" he smiled bashfully, looking down. "I guess it was Harrison Ford."

Robin snorted. "That's a mom crush!"

"Hey! He's classically handsome!" 

"Whatever, _mom_."

Steve made a face at Robin, and she made one back, still giggling. "We've done cooler stuff than Indiana Jones would ever do."

"You take that back!"

"I'll take it back when Indiana Jones fights a big meat monster in a mall with Fireworks." 

"Indiana Jones finds cool artifacts and fights Nazis." 

"He _steals_ the artifacts and gets mad when other people steal his stolen shit!" 

Steve held his hand to his heart, making a mock-hurt sound. 

"I think Richie is probably nicer than Indiana Jones."

Steve was quiet for a moment. "To be fair, it's not hard to be nicer than Indiana Jones. The guy's a hero, but he ain't polite." 

"And he doesn't have such pretty hair."

Steve groaned. "Don't."

"Don't what?" 

"Don't remind me!" Steve shifted a bit, finally taking his shoes off so he could fully be on the bed. "Look, I was okay with having a crush on an actor. It felt like it wasn't real, y'know? I'd never meet him. But Richie…" 

Robin nodded. "He's real to you."

"Exactly."

"You never had a crush on a guy at school?"

Steve thought for a moment. "I did. But I wouldn't talk to them. Just admire from afar, y'know?"

Robin nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know."

“I thought maybe if I didn’t act on it, it would go away. I could stick to liking girls only.” 

“But it didn’t work.”

“Not even a little bit.” 

Robin patted Steve’s shoulder, and they shared some comfortable silence for a while. Eventually they changed out of their work clothes, Robin borrowing some pajamas from Steve. It was late, so they figured they should try to go to sleep. But they were both a bit too restless for that.

“Robin,” Steve whispered from the floor, peeking over his bedside to see her silhouette in the dark. “Are you awake?”

“Mmhm,” Robin replied, rolling onto her side. “What’s up?”

“Is Monica the first girl you’ve ever, like, had a relationship with?”

Robin hesitated. “Yeah.”

Steve stayed silent for a while, still feeling antsy. “I’ve never dated a guy before.”

“I know.” 

Steve smiled a little “I guess I made that obvious.”

“Did you have a question or something?”

“I dunno. I’m just-” Steve felt a little delirious, rubbing his tired eyes. “I’m, I’m-”

“Scared?”

“...Yeah.”

Robin reached down and felt for one of Steve’s hands, grasping it and giving it a squeeze. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Steve.” 

Steve closed his eyes, feeling himself relax for the first time since that afternoon. “Thanks, Robin.”

“No problem. Now get some sleep, dingus.”


	3. Return of the Jedi

It was gorgeous outside, so today was even slower than usual. Most of the high schoolers who came in to rent movies were taking advantage of the unusually balmy October day instead, and Robin and Steve were stuck inside with another few hours on their shift before Keith took over. They were pretty checked out, mostly just passing time until they could leave. 

"Is Monica's place nice?" 

"I guess so." Robin shrugged "She's pretty messy, though."

Steve leaned back contemplatively. "I wonder how she can afford to have her own place. She's a student, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but she's got a job, too. And a roommate."

"Huh." A roommate. Steve hadn't considered that. Maybe he could afford to move out after all.

"I haven't met her, she's always in class or something when I'm over. All I know is she's a lot neater than Monica."

The bell rang. 

"Speak of the devil." 

Monica walked in with a black-lipped smile already on her face, carrying a huge Tupperware in her arms. "Hey, guys!" She hefted the container to the counter, standing on her toes to give Robin a kiss on the cheek. "Brought you a treat to get you through your shift." 

Robin peeled back the lid, absolutely melting when she saw what was inside. "You made cookies for us?" 

"Mostly for you, but I guess Harrington can have some. Long as you save some for Keith, too."

Steve made a face, which earned him a tap on the shoulder from Robin. "I thought you had class today?" 

"Eh, I skipped since it was so nice. Can't skip work, though, so I gotta go." She stole another kiss from Robin, leaving her blushing as Monica breezed right back out the door. 

Robin took a moment to regain her composure before taking a cookie, Steve's hand darting over to grab one as well. "Jesus, she made a shitload of these." He muffled through a mouthful of cookie. 

"Probably made a mess. Her roommate is such a neat freak, I hope she doesn't get mad at her." Robin ate another cookie, allowing Steve to grab one last one for himself before she snapped the Tupperware shut. She took it to the break room and set it on the table, scribbling a note telling Keith they were hers but he could help himself.

She came back to see Steve looking rather far away, some chocolate smudged by the corner of his mouth. She licked her thumb and wiped it off, hoping to get a rise out of him, but he just cringed away a little. "Hey, are you ok?"

Steve blinked a few times, his eyes slowly focusing on her. "Yeah, m'fine. Today just feels really long." 

Robin crossed her arms. She wasn't buying it. "Can't lie to me, dingus. C'mon, what is it?"

Steve sighed, looking down. Were his eyes watering? "I guess I'm just a little jealous. Monica is really cool, and I'm happy for you guys, but seeing you two makes me feel-" he sighed, starting to fidget with his hands. He struggled to find words, still staring decidedly at the floor. "It makes me feel like, maybe I won't find something like that again. Maybe I never really found it in the first place." 

Robin's face fell. "Oh, Steve." She knew exactly what he was talking about. One night at his pool, they'd gotten drunk and Steve have poured his heart out to her, about how he was so in love with Nancy and she just didn't feel the same way.

_ It wasn't her fault,  _ he'd slurred,  _ I couldn't be there for her like she needed me to.  _ His voice was watery, full of hurt, and Robin just given him a tight hug and gotten him a glass of water to sober up because he'd worked himself up so badly he was shaking.  _ It was my fault, _ he insisted, but Robin just hushed him and assured him it wasn't. It was nobody's fault. 

She couldn't help but notice the absence of his parents when she'd shepherded him inside and sat him down, made suddenly aware of just how alone he was all the time. He was isolated, like her. He felt unlovable, like she did. Maybe, now that she thought about it, his reasons had more in common with hers than she'd thought that night. 

"Steve." She murmured again, watching him wipe his eyes before looking back up at her. "You know that isn't true."

Steve let out a small laugh. A bitter one. "I really don't." He sniffed, composing himself and sitting up straight. 

"To be fair, you don't know anything." 

That got the smile Robin had been looking for. "Nah, but I'm working on it."

Robin let Steve steal another cookie to help him cheer up a bit more and their shift got back to going pleasantly, until the bell rang. 

Whatever composure Steve had regained quickly evicted itself from his body, because in walked Richie, carrying a paper bag and wearing a  _ crop top. _ Robin reached to close Steve's mouth, which had dropped open, while Richie was distracted by the New Movies stand at the front of the store.

"Hi, Richie!" She called with a smile, receiving a dazzling grin in return as he practically bounded up to the counter. 

"Hey, Robin!" He fished a VHS from his paper bag, placing it on the counter before digging into his pockets for his wallet. 

Steve, who had apparently finally managed to rip his eyes from Richie’s midriff, chose that moment to speak up. “You’re late.” he commented a bit too snidely, momentarily panicking before Richie just offered a sheepish smile. 

“Sorry about that. Class and practice got a kinda hectic this week. How much do I owe?”

“Six dollars even. Happens all the time, don’t beat yourself up.” Robin smiled warmly, taking Richie’s crumpled bills and sticking them in the register. “Are you renting today?”

“Yeah, actually. Oh, but first-” He reached into his paper bag, Robin and Steve watching him with puzzled looks. He produced an odd-looking stuffed animal from inside, only getting increasingly confused stares. It looked a little like a fat teddy bear. Its fur was too long, though, and it wore a little brown hood. “Steve, you said you liked Ewoks, right?”

Realization.

“I had an extra Wicket plush, I thought you might like him.” He offered it to Steve, who took it with great confusion. “My friend got one for me as a birthday gift because she didn’t know I’d already bought one for myself.” He shrugged. “Figured you could give him a good home.”

“Wow, thanks.” Steve barely resisted the urge to hug the little thing to his chest, just smiling faintly and setting him safely under the counter. “I’ll take good care of him.” 

There was a too-long pause before Robin swooped in to distract Richie from the blush rising up Steve’s neck, quickly helping him to rent Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and getting him out the door. “We should hang out sometime!” he called as he headed out the door, waving goodbye. Robin waved him off before returning to join Steve behind the counter. 

“Oh my god. He got you a fucking teddy bear.”

“Ewok.” Steve corrected, staring at the plush sitting under the counter. 

“That was flirting.” 

“You don’t know that!”

Robin rolled her eyes. “He comes in in a crop top-”

“It’s hot out!”

“-Shut up. He comes in in a crop top and brings you a  _ teddy bear- _ ”

“Ewok! And he said he had an extra.”    
“Oh my god, Steve.”

\---

“A slumber party?” Robin furrowed her brows, painting jet-black dye onto Monica’s dark brown roots. She didn’t understand why Monica even dyed her hair since it was already so dark, but Monica insisted that there was a difference. 

“Why not? Sounds like Steve needs a little extra support that’s not from a kid, and his asshole parents don’t sound like they’re ever home long enough to hold a conversation. I’d like to hang out with him more anyway. If you like him, he must be pretty special.”

Robin carefully parted another section of Monica’s hair, globbing more box dye onto her head. She wrinkled her nose at the chemical smell, feeling it travel up her sinuses and settle uncomfortably between her eyes. “He is, but, I dunno. Might be kind of weird. I don’t want him to end up a third wheel.”

Monica shrugged. “We can invite my roommate. I’d like you guys to meet anyway.” She turned to face Robin. Robin was already struggling not to melt at the sight of Monica with her hair down, but she really was tentative about a slumber party. “Mi amor,” oh fuck, she really had Robin wrapped around her finger, “trust me, it’ll be fun.” 

\---

“So… her roommate is gonna be there?”

“She’s working until 7, so she’ll be late, but yeah.”

“The neat freak?”

“She’s not a neat freak, Monica’s just messy.”

“Okay.” Steve’s leg was jiggling at a near-violent velocity. He used to be so good with meeting new people, but not it just made him nervous, like everything else. 

Robin kept her eyes on the road, removing a hand from the wheel to squeeze Steve’s hand in hers. “Hey, it’ll be fun. Monica’s a great cook, her roommate rented a movie, and they have an Atari so we have plenty to do.” 

“Did she rent it from us?”

“Apparently. So we’ve technically already met her! Does that ease your mind, dingus?”

Steve mentally went through all the girls around their age who had been to the store that week. He thought maybe he could guess which one it was, but he quickly found it to be impossible. 

They pulled up to Monica’s flat and Steve took a deep breath, getting out to grab their overnight bags from the trunk.

Monica excitedly opened the door after one knock from Robin. “You guys ready for girls’ night?”

Steve made a face.

“Girls’ and Steve night?” She amended, causing Robin to laugh as she led Steve in behind her. 

The house was surprisingly clean, for a start. Apparently Monica had put some serious effort in to this. The living room smelled like incense mixed with something mouth-watering coming from the kitchen. A record player was already going, playing some of Monica’s goth shit. The Cure, maybe? There was a beat-up TV stand with an older model sitting in it. The coffee table was scratched up, covered in condensation rings and clutter. The couch was huge and Steve sunk into it when he sat down, surprised by how comfortable it was. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

The intoxicating smell from the kitchen turned out to be tortilla soup, and it was fucking delicious. Robin and Steve had seconds and thirds, and there was still plenty left over because Monica made a shitload of it. After dinner, they changed into pajamas, settling in to the living room to hang out. Monica set up the Atari, picking this weird game called Yars’ Revenge. She showed them how to play and they warmed up to it pretty quickly, practically fighting each other for turns. 

They took a short break when Monica’s record ended. Steve got up to help her pick a new one, hoping she didn’t only have ones from gloomy bands. Flipping through one moody black-and-white album cover after another, things didn’t look good. He considered a few of her Bowie albums before coming to a halt at the sight of Elton John’s face.

“Caribou?”

Monica shrugged. “It’s my roommate’s. We can play it if you want.”

That settled it. Steve switched out the records, giving the The Cure one to Monica to put back in its sleeve. 

He went back to sit by Robin on the couch, stealing some potato chips from the bowl she’d gotten for herself while she waited on them. He opened his bag, taking out his little Ewok plush and sitting it between them.    
Robin rolled her eyes. “Do you take that thing with you everywhere?” 

“I just thought he might want to be included.” Steve teased, taking the plush and holding it in his lap. Monica looked over at them from the record player. 

“Hey, my roommate’s got one just like that!”

Steve and Robin looked at each other, about to question Monica further when they heard the door unlock. Monica went over to the door, swinging it open and holding out her arms delightedly.    
“Girls night!” Came a cheerful, eerily familiar voice from the other side of the door. Monica squealed as she was lifted up in a bear hug by her roommate. Her  _ male  _ roommate. 

Richie. 

He set Monica down, coming in all the way and locking up behind him. “You must be starved, I made Tortilla soup- oh, that’s Robin and Steve.”

Richie perked up at the mention of their names, looking over and grinning when he saw them. “Oh, I know them! They work at the Family Video! Hey, guys!” He paused, listening to what was playing. “Caribou? Nice choice.” He winked at Steve over his shoulder as Monica swept him into the kitchen, leaving the two on the couch utterly bewildered. 

“Robin?”

“Yeah, Steve?”

“Can I talk to you in  _ private? _ ”

“Sure thing.”

The two of them stood in unison, Steve snatching up his Ewok before they quickly made their way to the bathroom and shut the door. 

“I thought you said Monica’s roommate was a girl!” Steve hissed, his tone venomous with panic.

“I thought it was a girl! I just assumed!”

Steve groaned, raking his hands through his hair. “I’m going to die. I brought the stupid fucking Ewok to sleep with and now I look-”

“You sleep with it?”

“Not the point!” 

A smug smile was slowly creeping over Robin’s face, and Steve was powerless to stop her. “You snuggle with the teddy bear Richie gave you,” she teased, only delighted by Steve glaring daggers at her. “Maybe you could snuggle with someone else toni-” 

“Don’t you finish that sentence!” 

Robin threw her hands up. “Fine. All I’m saying is he lives with a gay girl, so maybe it’s safer to make a move than you thought.” She took the Ewok from him and left the bathroom, leaving Steve stunned for several moments before he regained his senses and followed her. 

She was sat on the couch with Wicket in her lap, Monica and Richie on either side of her. Richie was contently eating leftover soup, and the only space left on the couch was beside him. Steve’s hesitation in the doorway earned him some insufferably smug looks from Robin and Monica. He huffed in defeat, trudging over to sit beside Richie. 

God, tonight was weird. 

Richie set down his bowl, seemingly oblivious to the suffocating tension in the room. “You guys ready for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you see that coming?  
> Thank you for all your kind comments!! I'm really enjoying writing this so I'm glad to see people like reading it as well :)


	4. Time Bandits

The girls were perfectly comfortable, which was nice for them, Steve supposed.

Robin had curled up on her side, her head in Monica's lap, and Monica was toying with her hair as they watched the movie. She'd lazily scoop some chips from the bowl sitting on the floor in front of them every once in a while, feeding a few to Monica and then herself. It was infuriatingly cute. 

Steve, on the other hand, was the tensest he had probably ever been. He tried to focus on other things to distract himself from it. Investigating the dings and stains on the coffee table, wondering if Monica was going to wear her hair in that ratted beehive to bed because it was getting pretty late, picking at the hem of his worn pajama t-shirt, but nothing really worked. Richie was right next to him, his arm slung over the back of the couch behind Steve, and he felt like he was going to combust with nerves. 

The movie wasn't helping either. Indiana Jones's shirt was torn to shreds, Willie was _definitely_ not wearing a bra, and Steve didn't dare look at anyone else to see if they noticed. He hoped, at the very least, his friends (were Monica and Richie his friends? Yeah, he guessed they were.) were enjoying the movie that he'd recommended so highly. Maybe his infatuation with Harrison Ford made him biased and it actually wasn't that good. 

The girls' commentary was helping to calm him a bit, though. 

"No-bra girl would've gotten at least a second degree burn getting that close to that lava." Oh, so they had noticed that. 

"Her name is Willie." Steve corrected, which got a handful of potato chips thrown at him. 

"My point stands." Robin announced, holding up a finger for emphasis. 

"If we're gonna nitpick, ripping someone's heart out is probably more challenging than this movie makes it seem." Monica chimed in, earning a snort from Robin. 

Steve knew that Robin talking about a movie meant she was enjoying it, and he assumed it was the same case with Monica. It was comforting to know that his best friend and her girlfriend liked one of his favorite movies. 

Richie was silent throughout the whole thing, which was making Steve's skin crawl. Well, he'd huff out a laugh at the jokes, but no commentary. Not a peep. Steve hoped it was because he liked it. 

When the credits started to roll, Richie got up and started gathering up their dishes to put away. "I thought it was good. The part where they jumped out of the plane on a raft was pretty goofy, though." He gave Steve a little nod. "Thanks for recommending these movies." 

"You just like them because you have the hots for Han Solo." Monica teased. Richie just smiled and shook his head in response, ignoring her as he took the dishes to the kitchen. 

Steve tensed, trying to ignore his heart pounding even harder than before and Robin looking over at him wildly, clear excitement on her face. This didn't mean anything. So Richie liked guys. Didn't mean he'd like Steve. 

Steve glared at Robin, attempting to signal her to quit making that face, but it was too late. Monica had followed Robin's line of sight, smirking when she saw the panicked look on Steve's face. "Why do you like that guy again, Richie?" She called, locking eyes with Steve. 

A laugh echoed from the kitchen. "He's cute! You know I have a thing for brunettes." He called back over the sound of running water and clinking dishes. 

Robin was suppressing a giggle fit, smacking Monica's arm. "What's so funny?" Richie's voice came from behind Monica, the three of them looking up from their squabble to see he'd returned from the kitchen. His hair was up in a ponytail.

Yep. 

Steve was going to die. 

"We were just making fun of your taste in men." Steve couldn't see Monica's face while she was facing Richie but he was positive she looked smug as ever. 

Richie, the saint he was, just smiled patiently and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? I have a feeling it was mostly you." He looked between Robin and Steve. "Unless you two have something to say?"

" _I_ think you have great taste in men." Robin sat up from Monica's lap, Monica's hands chasing her hair to continue to play with it. "Monica doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Neither do you!" Monica sounded miffed, but only playfully so, pecking Robin on the cheek. 

"I appreciate it anyway, Robin." Richie ruffled Monica's mass of hair as he passed her to sit beside Steve again. "So what do you like about those Indiana Jones movies, Stevie?"

Steve froze, stunned by the unexpected pet name and being put on the spot in the same sentence. What could he say? That he thought Harrison was attractive? He had to have a better reason. He could talk about how Short Round reminded him of Dustin and the scene where he tells Indy he loves him makes his eyes water. Or maybe not that. 

What he ends up saying is "I dunno, I just think they're cool." Which was the lamest possible answer. 

Richie tilted his head. "That's reason enough." He agreed, giving Steve's shoulder a pat. Steve tried very hard to ignore his stomach lurching at the touch. 

They were all a bit lost as to what to do next until Monica suggested another movie, popping in their copy of Alien. “There’s a new one coming out soon.” She’d said, scurrying back to the couch to snuggle up with Robin. Steve had seen it once in theaters (he’d somehow managed to get into an R-rated movie at thirteen years old, probably with a bribe) but he didn’t really remember it that well. 

If he had, he probably would have asked not to watch it.

He first felt real unease when the British character discovered the eggs. The darkness; the strange, leathery, organic surroundings; the mist, all brought him back to trekking through those awful tunnels, paranoid out of his mind that something would leap from the darkness and hurt one of the kids. 

It didn’t get much better from there. He found himself wincing and jumping a lot more than the others, the little facehugger scuttling around putting him on edge. 

When the adult Xenomorph fully appeared, Steve felt sick. A massive, sinewy, walking-on-two-legs predator, like the Demogorgon. An oblong head with a revolting extending mouth, like the Mindflayer, the thing that almost ate El, that skewered Billy right in front of poor Max-

And TV shut off. Tunnel vision that Steve didn’t know he was even experiencing snapped away and he was suddenly aware of his surroundings again. Robin was gasping for breath, her hands trembling as she brought them to her face to hide hiccuping sobs. Monica scrambled back from turning off the TV to try and comfort her, speaking softly and gently grasping both of Robin’s hands to help her still them. 

Steve instinctively reached an equally shaky hand out to help console Robin, only to have Richie catch it. Apparently at some point during the movie he’d grabbed Richie’s arm and hadn’t let go until then. Richie looked at him worriedly, Steve suddenly very conscious that he was shaking like a leaf, on the verge of tears over a stupid movie. Robin was different, the Mindflayer was her first run-in with all the freaky shit in Hawkins.

He should be able to handle it by now. 

He wormed his wrist out of Richie’s grip, climbing clumsily over him to get closer to Robin. He grasped both her hands in his, looking at her earnestly, but found that when he tried to speak he couldn’t. Robin looked at him through teary eyes, and the two of them became increasingly distressed at the sight of one another so upset. Robin stammered incoherently, trying in vain to communicate to Steve that everything was okay, because clearly it wasn’t. Tremors ran through them like a violent current, one’s distress only provoking the other further. Steve should know better, he should be able to handle this, to be there for Robin. She was always there for him, why couldn’t he keep it together enough to do the same?

Strong, gentle hands pried the two of them apart, but not completely away from one another. Steve felt a warm hand rubbing circles on his back. 

“-Steve?” A voice cut through his foggy thoughts. “Breathe, Stevie. You guys are alright. You’re safe.” Breathe, right. Steve did his best to do the breathing exercises Mrs. Byers had taught him, watching numbly as Monica wrapped her arms around Robin and spoke to her softly, helping her shivering to still. Stupid Harrington. Helpful in a life-or-death situation, but completely useless in an emotional crisis. Why did Robin even hang out with him?

“Steve.” The voice came again, more firmly this time. “Hey, look at me.” He was hesitant to take his eyes from Robin, but he obeyed, turning to see Richie, eyebrows scrunched together with concern. “You’re still shaking.” he murmured, and Steve winced slightly when he moved to wrap an arm around him. “No hugs?” Steve shook his head. “Too much?” Steve nodded. Richie seemed to understand. “Can’t talk.” That wasn’t really a question.

“I’ll get them some water.” Monica said softly, starting to let go of Robin.   
Richie stood quickly. “No, let me.” Richie paused, pondering for a moment. “Would cookies help you guys feel a little better?” He suggested, smiling when he got a small nod from Robin. He went to the kitchen, returning with a plate piled high with homemade cookies and two glasses of water tucked in his arm. “We always have some in the house.”

“Did I make those or did you?” Monica leaned to inspect the plate.   
“I made these ones.” Richie informed her, offering the plate to Robin and Steve. 

Robin took one, but Steve declined as politely as he could manage. The movie had made him nauseous. Richie just shrugged and set the plate down, placing their waters on the coffee table before sitting back beside Steve. 

“Sorry, guys.” Monica murmured, tracing patterns on Robin’s back. “Didn’t realize this movie would be too much. Don’t be afraid to tell us if you don’t want to watch something, we’ll understand.”

Richie nodded, handing Steve his glass of water, which he took gratefully. “Yeah. Horror’s not for everybody.” 

Steve just cleared his throat. His voice hadn’t quite come back to him yet.

“I like horror movies,” Robin said, her voice raw and quiet. “But only when they’re dumb. That was like, good.” she shook her head. “It was actually scary.” 

Monica giggled a little, kissing Robin’s cheek. “Good to know.”

Richie put on a calmer record and they all gradually settled down. Steve’s paranoia about having to explain why he and Robin had gotten so badly worked up by a horror movie gradually died down when the questions never came. Apparently the movie just being Too Scary for them was a good enough explanation. Monica decided on a much tamer movie to watch instead called Time Bandits. It was one of those geeky ones that Dustin liked. They didn’t really pay attention to this one, just putting it on low volume and chatting over it into the evening. Steve eventually managed to speak again, much to Robin’s relief, and the evening went on pretty pleasantly after that. 

The girls went to bed after the movie ended around midnight, shuffling sleepily to Monica's room. Leaving Steve and Richie alone. 

"So Monica really wears her hair like that to bed?" Steve asked awkwardly, already feeling his nerves eating at him. 

Richie laughed. "Yeah. She brushes it out to wash every week or two."

Steve wrinkled his nose. "Gross."

Richie just shrugged. "It's not that bad."

There was a silence between them then, the only sound coming from the record player. 

"You brought the Ewok I gave you." Richie observed, his eyes on the doll poking out of Steve's bag on the floor. Steve felt his face heat up. 

"I- yeah, I did." 

He turned to face Steve, looking pleased. "So you like it?"

Steve swallowed. "I do. Thank you, Richie." 

Richie's face brightened even more. "I'm glad." 

They sat staring at each other for another stretch of silence. 

"Why did you give it to me?" Steve blurted without thinking. He just couldn't handle prolonged, silent eye contact right now. 

Richie furrowed his brows. "I told you. You said you liked Ewoks, and I had an extra-"

"No, I mean," Steve sighed, looking away now. "Why did you give me a gift at all?" 

Richie smiled bashfully. "Oh. Well, um, I think you're cute and funny and I wanted to give you something you'd like." 

Steve opened and closed his mouth a few times. His face was burning. "But you- I- I'm not even- you're way out of my league you're so tall and handsome and- and you're a serious athlete and you're so _nice_ I don't deserve-"

Steve faltered when he noticed Richie slowly leaning closer to him, his babbling slowing to a stop. Geez, Richie was tall. “What are you- mm!” Richie planted his lips on Steve’s, soft and sure. The kiss was chaste, some would say downright demure, but Steve felt like his chest was exploding. He’d never felt so vulnerable. Which didn’t make sense, he had kissed plenty of girls before. Hell, he’d made out in public more often than he was proud of. Point was, this wasn’t his first rodeo- so why did it feel so new? Apparently his shock was obvious on his face because when Richie leaned back and saw him he let out a little giggle that caused Steve's stomach to swarm with butterflies like he'd never felt before. 

"Your lips are soft." He said dumbly, and Richie laughed more and gave him another kiss. Steve managed to gather enough brain power to kiss back this time. Richie hummed contently into the kiss, a hand reaching up to cup Steve’s cheek. He was blushing so intensely the touch felt like it burned him. He pulled away to catch his breath, his head ducked down to hide how flustered he was- as if it wasn’t painfully obvious. 

"The other day- did you wear that crop top on purpose?" He asked, slightly breathless. Richie gave him a mischievous look, winking. 

"It was hot out."


End file.
